Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is spooky, panic-inducing, and a little clunky
I want to start by saying that I have actually never played a Fatal Frame game before. I have always wanted to, but I was too young to own them, and I could never convince my mum to buy me one as a kid. Then, as an adult, I just forgot about the series and moved on to other games that captured my attention more. So, even though I’ve seen many call the original Fatal Frame II one of the best Xbox horror games ever, I went into this remake relatively blind.
So, when I say that this game pulled me in right off the bat, you don’t have to worry about whether my nostalgia goggles are strapped on too tight. We open with a gorgeous cutscene that introduces our main protagonist, Mio Amakura, and her sister Mayu Amakura. The game is bright and vibrant at first, but then our sister becomes transfixed with a strange butterfly that leads us into a dark, dingy, and haunted village. Stupid butterfly.
This is where the game begins, and where I, unfortunately, encountered my first and biggest issue with the title. Fatal Frame II Remake has an irritating screen filter you can not turn off. It’s like two filters rolled into one. The first is a stationary filter that does not move and displays dirt and dust. The second filter is a moving version of the first filter, and combined, it is, without a doubt, one of the biggest eyesores I have had to deal with in a game. It’s distracting and adds little to the mood.
When the game is in light areas, you won’t see the filter. Sadly, we’re in the middle of a haunted village in the dead of night, where everything has been plunged into a never-ending darkness. Thus, all we can see is this darn filter. With the release of the demo, players have experienced this filter firsthand and have made their frustrations known on Reddit, so hopefully Koei Tecmo sees this and either tones it down or gives us a toggle on Xbox and PlayStation.
Thankfully, once you adjust and learn to ignore the filter, the game itself is a horrifying experience that kept me on the edge of my seat. Strange noises echo around the room as you explore, the eerie quiet builds up until it feels like someone is screaming in your ear, and the overall vibes are wickedly sinister. We’ll uncover notes and documents that paint an unsettling image of the village we find ourselves trapped within, crafting a fantastic narrative to chase after.
Exploring the first building set the tone of the game perfectly. You feel isolated, scared to walk around corners, and just generally uneasy. However, you’re safe in this game until you pick up the Camera Obscura, the strange weapon we’ll be using to defend ourselves and fight off ghastly threats. Taking pictures damages the ghost, and the clearer a picture is, the more damage you do. You can also get different types of film for your camera that also inflict more damage. On top of that, you’ll find Prayer Beads, which can be used to upgrade your camera, making it even deadlier.
As you may imagine, picking up the camera forces all those pesky ghosts out of the woodwork, and I got to see their spooky faces for the first time. The ghost designs are brilliant, and I genuinely felt so uneasy watching them stumble towards me before frantically picking up their pace and dashing towards me. Their twisted and distorted faces sent shivers down my spine, and I loved it.
Our first fight takes place in a hard-to-maneuver-around room. This is where I got a true feel of the controls, and things do feel clunky. Turning around is needlessly slow, and wielding the camera feels too floaty. I also realized that I suck at this game, as I was getting my ass handed to me by the first enemy I encountered. So, I want to thank my mum for not buying me these titles as a kid, as I would have had no hope.
I’m about four and a half hours in now, and I have definitely gotten better with the controls, but it takes time, practice, and patience. I still feel like I am awkwardly trying to turn around in the midst of fights just so I can face the ghost and snap a cheeky photo. But I am improving bit by bit. So, if you start the game up and are struggling like I was, I promise you will get to grips with the controls over time. Heck, I still have a ways to go yet.
One point I really want to make is that dodging is an absolute must. Okay, so that probably sounds really obvious. After all, why would you not try to dodge enemy attacks? Well, after I failed to dodge a few times, I just deemed it a useless feature. Mio’s dodge feels heavy, and I personally felt like I lost control of her when I used it. I would still get grabbed by a ghost or would wind up stuck in a corner of a room, unable to move.
Don’t be me, practise dodging, and you will have a much more enjoyable time with the game. While it feels like Mio’s dodge will not save you from enemy attacks, it absolutely will. It’s all about good timing and knowing when to hit that dodge button.
I realized that when I had the camera up, and it started to flash red (signalling an incoming enemy attack), hitting the dodge button in that moment would, nine out of ten times, see me avoid an enemy’s attack. Sure, that should be a given, but due to my past attempts at dodging, I was dubious about it. However, it worked, and it continued to work as I kept playing.
Dodging is great when your camera is still charging and unable to take a photo. Taking a photo will stagger an enemy and stop their attack, but you won’t always be able to do this if you have only recently taken a photograph. It’s all about finding a balance between dealing damage and playing defensively. I’m enjoying combat a whole lot more now than I was at the start of the game. I still suck, but I’m less sucky than the suck that I was at the start. Do you get me?
On the topic of not doing silly things like me, don’t go off exploring every corner of the game at the start. Almost everything is locked away, and you’ll just bump into dead ends. Sure, there is a lot of film you can pick up, but you’re likely carrying the maximum you can of each amount early on, as the game gives you plenty to start with. Thus, you’ll end up having to leave it behind and continue with the game.
You will come to most of these areas naturally through the game’s main story and different side quests that pop up. This is something I wish I had known from the start. I wasted so much time running to different parts of the map, being unable to do anything, leaving, only to return a half an hour later when the story finally required me to show up. Once again, don’t be me, be better.
I want to brief talk about those Fatal Frame II Remake achievements and trophies. Players are in for a tough journey if they want that full completion. There are multiple achievements connected to the different endings, which will likely require multiple playthroughs to earn. However, we may be able to trim the amount needed with some tactical saves.
However, this isn’t the only thing that we’ll need to contend with; we will also need to beat the game on its hardest difficulty (Nightmare), which will unlock once we beat the game for the first time. I’m playing on the Standard difficulty, and I am already struggling to survive. I can’t imagine how tough this difficulty will be to beat, and it fills me with a sense of dread at the mere thought of tackling it.
The rest of the list is filled with collectibles and achievements that will unlock through doing things for the first time. This includes stuff like holding your sister’s hand, entering Photo Mode, using the Spirit Radio, and so on. It’s going to be an interesting challenge, but I am down to give it my best effort.
Summary
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake is atmospheric, unnerving, and filled with scares galore. It provides all the main components of what I look for in a solid horror game. Now, while it nails the most important elements, I still wish the controls were a little less clunky, and that the screen filter wasn’t so in your face. These feel like easy fixes, and if Koei Tecmo can improve upon them, the game would feel almost perfect to me. Even with these issues, I still think the title is excellent, and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series or simply love a good horror outing.
A code was provided by Koei Tecmo for PS5. Sean played the game for four and a half hours, and is looking forward to jumping back in to finish it up.